Hawaii's Plantations: Sugar Cane or Sugar Pain

For the final media portfolio I wanted to focus on the labor work and how difficult it was. Last week we read Takaki’s chapter 10 that partially focused on the sugar cane plantation work that was done by the Japanese Americans and other indigenous workers. Takaki explains how the physical labor was tough, and this can only remind one of the first two weeks of the class when we learned the labor endured by the Africans- blacks being slaved by the whites. He says that "in the winter, temperatures went down to 20 below in the mountains (268.)" Also he states that in the summer "temperatures could reach 120 degrees (268)." So I decided to search for a picture of the sugar cane fields and see for myself what it looked like to work with sugar cane.

When one thinks of sugar they most likely think small granules which don’t seem to be physically challenging to work with. But then after taking a look at this image one can see that the sugar cane process isn’t as easy as one may think. These stalks that had to be cut down and carried were over 10 ft. tall and were deceivingly heavy. Not to mention the extremely hot climate of Hawaii. With all that being said, it is important for us to not forget about the blood and sweat and tears that were shed for us to be were we are at today. Not just from slavery and from concentration camps, but from harassment, discrimination, and war. All of the stories that were told so far in this summer class have left me with many unforgettable images in my mind. And all of these images remind me how lucky I am in this day in age, for most of the suffering already endured decades and centuries ago. America was not put together in a “pretty” looking manor. The Americans here wanted to protect what they had, and many other people wanted in on the American Dream which lead to all of these struggles. These tough times must be acknowledged and once again was the reason I chose a picture that showed the extreme times that so many went through on the plantations in Hawaii.

Here is the url to look at the image: http://216.177.7.126/HAWAII/cane.jpg